Biodiversity
Introduction:
- International Biodiversity Day, which was observed on May 22, served as a further reminder of the critical role that nature plays in resolving the climate change dilemma, which, together with the loss of biodiversity, represents an existential threat to humankind.
- What Is Biodiversity?
- In our bodies as omnipresent microbiomes, in our backyards, villages, towns, and cities, and in far-off wild locations as well-organized ecological communities and ecosystems, biodiversity, the vast variety of living things and their links to one another and the environment, can be found everywhere.
- The most effective way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and cool our land and oceans is to preserve and improve biodiversity on land and in the water.
The significance of biodiversity:
- The reduction of climate change is just one of the many advantages that biodiversity provides. Additionally, it satisfies our fundamental requirements for nourishment, safety, healthcare, recreation, and spiritual development.
- We will need to rely more and more on nature-based solutions, also known as biodiversity-based solutions, to address the ongoing degradation of our ecosystem and guarantee our future.
- In the face of climate change, biodiversity will rehabilitate our degraded lands, polluted rivers and oceans, and keep our agriculture alive.
- The foundation of a new, sustainable green economy will be biodiversity.
- And it is biodiversity that will encourage our children to choose a more compassionate, fair, and hopeful future that gives the living world priority.
Biodiversity is declining:
- We have not done a good job of taking care of and sustaining life on earth, despite the fact that biodiversity is crucial and ultimately supports all human pursuits.
- We have failed to properly manage and maintain our priceless, irreplaceable natural heritage both globally and in India.
- Globally, biodiversity is decreasing, and our final, mainly isolated ecosystems are deteriorating as a result of changes in their environment, including species extinction, climatic stresses, and ongoing human pressures.
Maintaining and controlling biodiversity:
- In many respects, both we and biodiversity are one. Therefore, civic society must be fundamental to maintaining our biodiversity. As a result of today International Biodiversity Day, a long overdue paradigm shift in the conservation of biodiversity must start right away.
- India’s biodiversity can also be found in its oceans, rivers, deltas, and water bodies. Grasslands, savannas, alpine pastures, deserts, and other biological groups make up a diverse range of our ecosystems.
- In order to preserve and sustain life on Earth, we must consider multifunctional landscapes in which local populations’ aspirations, beliefs, traditional knowledge, and active participation are crucial components.
Biodiversity integration:
- The planned National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing has as its purpose the mainstreaming of biodiversity.
- Leading conservation biologists in India conceptualised the idea and created a mission road map, both of which were endorsed in principle by the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Council. They were working under the auspices of the Biodiversity Collaborative, situated in Bengaluru.
- The Mission will make it possible for our nation to use biodiversity and ecosystem services, sometimes known as nature-based solutions, to address important issues including climate change, natural and regenerative agriculture, and ecosystem and public health.
- The ultimate goal is to improve and preserve biodiversity in order to promote human well-being, more specifically to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals connected to eradicating poverty, improving nutrition and health, and protecting the environment, as well as to create a new green economy.
Moving ahead:
- The Indian government passed the Forest Rights Act in 2006, which demanded that indigenous tribes have a greater say in who owns and manages biodiversity.
- However, the Act has primarily remained on paper and has not yet been put into practise. After 17 years, it’s time to go beyond the Act’s provisions and completely revamp how we manage biodiversity.
- If biodiversity exists everywhere as it does, we must incorporate it into all of our daily activities, including all development programmes, government agencies, and public and private institutions.
- It is also time to decentralise biodiversity management by forming committees for biodiversity management and bringing together a variety of stakeholders, including local communities.
